The NMA has welcomed the Government’s announcement that it will set up a Digital Markets Unit, which will begin work in April and sit within the Competition and Markets Authority, to oversee a “pro-competition regime” for platforms, including those funded by digital advertising, such as Google and Facebook (see items below).

The NMA also welcomed the new code that will be introduced to govern commercial arrangements between publishers and platforms to help keep publishers in business, helping enhance the sustainability of high-quality online journalism and news publishing in the UK.

The NMA urges the Government to implement both of these “without delay”. The NMA noted that the CMA’s market study revealed evidence of systematic anti-competitive behaviour, which is causing detriment, not only to publishers, but to advertisers and consumers as well.

The NMA said that it has called for regulation of the tech platforms and a code of conduct to govern the relationship between publishers and the platforms and that the new regime should also include a statutory obligation for the platforms to carry and surface news publishers’ content and to pay for its use. To read the NMA’s response in full, click here.